Eager restaurateurs, future food connoisseurs and nascent entrepreneurs willingly soaked up the limitless business gems served up at the Jamaica Observer Table Talk Food Awards Foodie Seminar on Tuesday, June 11. There were countless tales of inspirations as each presenter chronicled their journey into the food and beverage industry. Though they all took different paths to success, each presenter highlighted a common goal — developing the industry while influencing the future generation.
As we reminisce on the day that was, we’ve provided a brief rundown of each presentation as we continue our quest to educate and inspire. Kamila McDonald — Planting a Seed for Growth A picture of the popular media personality-turned-restaurateur was all it took for Kamila McDonald to have the audience fully captivated by her story. Revealing an unhealthy relationship with food in the past, McDonald shared that at her “heaviest”, she weighed some 200 pounds.
Dubbing that phase of her life “rock bottom”, the now owner of Kamila’s Kitchen said she found new purpose on her weight-loss journey, one that led back to her ital roots and ultimately her future in the food and beverage industry. “I lost 65 pounds and I started to dedicate myself to health and wellness. That is when I became a personal trainer, a sports nutritionist and a health coach.
I became fascinated and really motivated to share the knowledge I gained,” she said. “I started this series called ‘Reggae Recipes.
